PH lands 95th place on WB

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MANILA – The Philippines landed 95th in the World Bank’s latest “Ease of Doing Business” report, reflecting gains from last year.

Though doing business in the country became more difficult this year following the Manila’s truck ban, a change in the survey’s methodology showed the country’s improvement which is the highest ever reported.

The country placed 5th among the Southeast Asian nations following Singapore, which topped the list, Malaysia (18th), Thailand (26th), and Vietnam (78th) and China (90th).

Also in the top five this year are New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark and South Korea.

Last year, the Philippines was recognized as the most-improved country after it moved 30 points up from 108th place.

While the country’s scores remained unchanged in the “Getting Electricity” and “Enforcing Contracts” criteria in the new report, it fell in eight of the 10 criteria led by“Trading Across Borders,” “Protecting Minority Investors” and “Paying Taxes.

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The report probes different indicators including the number of days and steps needed to get new business permits, and the ease at which a business can be closed down, among others.

The said World Bank survey is cited by President Aquino as among the indicators of the administration’s success in running the government.

Significant international benchmarks include the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report and Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.

“We’re on track and we’re moving in that direction,” said Guillermo Luz, the private sector co-chair of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), whose job is to work on improving the country’s rank in international surveys.